


The Words on My Skin

by leyrenee



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Light Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-01-16 17:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12347148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leyrenee/pseuds/leyrenee
Summary: Victor has spent his entire life ignoring the words that appear on his skin, never knowing what to say back. Until the day his soulmate says that they will never contact him again. For the first time in his life, Victor finds himself actively pursuing his soulmate and trying to figure who they are.





	1. Chapter 1

Victor loved the ice, he had ever since the first moment his blades touched it. Endless practices and throwing himself into the sport had kept him from dwelling on how lonely he had become. Competitive figure skating, especially on the international level, left little free time for him to obsess over his soulmate. It also gave him greater opportunity to meet him, not that he had any idea who it was or where they were now. He had never even attempted to figure that puzzle out, it was always something he intended to do but never found time for.

As a child, he had marveled over the Japanese characters that filled his skin. Until he realized that it meant he couldn’t read them. He considered writing back in Russian but it seemed pointless. Without meaning, he went years not replying to his soulmate. Always intending to write something in English but forgetting or telling himself that he would do it later.

One day, a message appeared in English for the first time. It made his heart stop. “I’m sorry for bothering you for so many years. You won’t hear from me again.” All those years he had let go by without saying anything, all while his soulmate had constantly been reaching out to him. Victor was frantic in his attempt to find a pen, desperate to finally write back.

“I’m here! Please don’t go!” His letters were sloppy, he wasn’t accustomed to writing in the language. Victor felt ashamed for never responding, for making his soulmate feel so unwanted. Just as alone as he felt but it was entirely his fault. He should have tried to communicate, he should have found some way to locate his soulmate despite the language barrier.

Victor never received a response, he couldn’t blame his soulmate for ignoring his first message. After all his years of silence, it felt just that he receive silence in return. He never stopped writing. Every exposed patch of skin he could reach was covered in his words, pleas for his soulmate to respond. Even if his soulmate never responded, Victor wanted them to know that they were wanted.

“Please stop. People stare at me.” The message broke his heart. Years of filling his skin with words and all his soulmate cared about was the reaction of those around them. Victor only had himself to blame. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. This was entirely his fault. For years he had ignored his soulmate and now they wanted nothing to do with him. In his selfishness and fear, he had made his soulmate suffer. Now he was faring the same fate.

“I’m sorry I ignored you for so long. Please don’t go.” Sitting on the floor of his room, he had never felt more empty or alone. Here was his other half and even they didn’t want Victor. Even if he had caused it himself, it still hurt. Wallowing in loneliness instead of allowing himself to have this, to talk to this person who was meant for him.

“I think it would be better if we did not communicate again.” So formal. While they were strangers, their souls were intertwined. It felt inherently wrong to Victor for them to speak to each in such a formal manner. Despite it, he was thankful that they could finally talk.

“We’re soulmates. We can’t just ignore each other.” The words rang true and the guilt welled up in Victor, he had done just that. Could he really tell his soulmate they shouldn’t do the same thing?

“I thought you didn’t exist.” Victor stared as his wrist where the words had appeared faintly, as if his soulmate was unsure of the statement. He had never considered his soulmate would assume they didn’t exist. It seemed logical now that he was faced with the idea. “Then phone numbers started appearing and I knew you existed, you just didn’t want me.” Victor gulped, remembering those few nights he let loose at clubs and woke up hungover with phone numbers written all over his hand. He never went home with any of them or called the strangers who propositioned him. But that was the only message his soulmate ever got, the phone numbers of strange men at clubs. Victor’s cheeks were wet with tears as a sob wretched out of him. His soulmate felt utterly unwanted, ignored, and unworthy of his attention. In all his years, Victor had never felt as low as he did in that moment. He was the one who was unworthy of his soulmate who tried so hard to contact him.

“I always wanted you. I just didn’t know what to say. Or what language to say it in.” It was the truth, even if it felt more like an excuse. Victor didn’t know how to explain figure skating or how important it was to him, how it made so few people want to even be around him. The idea that even his soulmate, like so many of his competitors, might reject him was terrifying. Some part of him always feared that his soulmate wouldn’t think he was worthy of the effort it would take to maintain a relationship with his busy competitive schedule. But he had never even given them the chance. Victor would do whatever he had to in order to keep his soulmate talking.

After several minutes without a response, he felt like he had scared them off somehow. Frantically, he started to write again, his letters getting less legible with each word. “I’m a figure skater. I was always so busy. I always wanted to talk to you. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain my life. I didn’t know Japanese and I never had enough time to fully learn it.” Despite it all being the truth, it still felt like he was making excuses for his behavior. His pen hovered above his skin, trying to decide what else to write, when all of it disappeared. Victor’s soulmate had washed all of the writing left, all that was left was gray smudges.

“You’re a skater?” Victor breathed a sigh of relief. His soulmate wasn’t erasing their conversation, just making room. He was particularly glad that he had led with that statement, it had caught his soulmate’s interest apparently.

“Yes. Are you a fan?” Victor cringed as the question but it seemed like a reasonable thing to ask. Maybe his soulmate would know who he was. That made him feel vain.

“I’m a skater.” Victor sucked in a breath. His soulmate was a skater. All this time, could he have been that close by? “Are you anyone I would recognize?” Suddenly, Victor didn’t like the idea that his soulmate might know who he was. Most of his competitors had rejected him, found him too busy or caught up in his own life to want to be friends with him. The thought that his soulmate could be one of them concerned him.

Victor considered his options. If he said ‘no’ then he would seem arrogant when they found out who he was because it was a complete lie. But if did say who he was, his soulmate might have misconceptions about his because of the media or rumors that his competitors spread about him. “Possibly.” That seemed like the best choice though it still seemed on the side of arrogance to him.

“Who?” Well that didn’t leave him with any options. It was lie or face the truth now. His soulmate would find out who he was eventually. It might as well be now.

“It’s Victor.” He leaned back against the couch with his eyes closed, focused on his breathing. This was the first time he had been so concerned about what someone thought of him. Despite his competitors’ constant rejections, Victor had never let it bother him.

“Victor Nikiforov?” The writing was shakier than he had been previously.

“Yes.” Victor took in a deep breath, unsure of where this was going to end up. There was no response for a few minutes and he began to worry. “Is that a problem?” He knew he shouldn’t push it but now that his identity was out there, he wanted to know what his soulmate thought of him. Still there was no response. His stomach sank the longer he waited in silence. Maybe the media’s portrayal of him had ruined any chance he ever had with his soulmate. The tears welled up in his eyes again and fell freely over his face. Victor dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. None of this was what he expected from today. All he wanted to do was connect with his soulmate finally. But that seemed futile now.

“We’ve met before.” Victor was unsure how long the words were there before he noticed them but his breath caught in his throat the moment he caught sight of them. “I’m a skater. We met last year but you didn’t even realize I was a competitor.” His obliviousness had cost him more than he even knew. The media wasn’t even causing this, he had done this himself. He had met his soulmate and didn’t even remember it, didn’t even know who they were. He hadn’t even recognized him as a competitor, he really didn’t deserve them. Then the words were rubbed clean from his skin again, replaced by a single sentence. “I didn’t expect you to, I’m not that well known.” Oh, that was expected. He felt like his soulmate was trying to placate him, maybe make him feel better about being so self-centered.

Victor felt horrible. His soulmate felt like even his competitors shouldn’t recognize him, just because he wasn’t as well-known as a consecutive gold-medalist. That wasn’t exactly a fair standard to measure yourself by. And he was no better than any other skater who made him feel like that. He wanted to wipe the words away and his doubts along with them. But first, he needed to apologize for his own rudeness. Then find out who his soulmate was, it felt so unbalanced that they knew who he was but he still had no idea who they were.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. That was unfair to you as a competitor. You deserve more respect than that.” His apology sounded forced but it was sincere. Victor knew he was often too wrapped up in himself and his routines, he never stopped to consider how it might hurt others.

“It didn’t feel great but I wasn’t upset. I expected it.” Victor groaned. His soulmate expected that from him, they didn’t even think Victor would recognize them as a competitor. “You took a photo with me.” Victor wanted to scream. He had been so close to his soulmate and had no idea, it would be impossible to figure out who it was just from that. He took pictures with so many people, fans and competitors alike.

“I’m an idiot.” It felt like the most honest thing he had said all night. He had made everything more complicated and hurtful than it ever had to be with his stupidity. By pushing his soulmate away for years, he had missed so many opportunities. His excuses that he would have to explain his life as a figure skater were useless, his soulmate was in the same profession that he was. All those years, he could have faced his competitions with his soulmate at his side. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I want to know you. I want a second chance.”

“We could start fresh.” The response took him by surprise, Victor didn’t actually expect his soulmate to indulge his wish. But he wasn’t going to pass up the offer.

“I would like that.” Victor bit his lip as he waited for a response. He felt more optimistic than he ever had before.

“You had to do something first.”

“Anything.” He meant it. At this point, Victor was willing to do anything for the chance to know his soulmate. He wasn’t going to let this second chance get wasted.

“Find me on social media. We’ve competed against each multiple times.” A smiley face appeared next to the message. Victor could only gape at his arm, disbelieving. “You have an hour.” Belatedly, Victor realized that if they were a competitor, they were male. His face flushed at the thought, he certainly wasn’t going to complain.

After a few minutes in a daze, allowing things to sink in, he got to work. Jumping off the floor, he groaned as his whole body protested. He had been sitting on the floor for far too long, caught up in the conversation and not realizing the harm it would cause to his aging body. Victor searched for his phone, realizing that every moment that slipped by was less time to figure out who his soulmate was. Though the pool was narrowed considerably now.

Raking his brain, there were only a few real possibilities. For the first time, he felt thankful that so many of his competitors had found their soulmates already. There were only a few Japanese skaters he had competed against, especially multiple times. As soon as he started to pull up Japanese competitors, he realized who it had to be.

Yuuri Katsuki. It didn’t take long to find his social media, though he found them mostly bare. There were a few official posts and things that appeared to have been posted by a friend. Victor followed all of the accounts he could find and decided Twitter would be the easiest one to message him on until he could hopefully procure an easier way to communicate.

“Did I do alright?” Glancing at the time, it had only take about half the time to find him. He sincerely hoped he was right or he would feel incredibly foolish.

“I’m surprised you figured it out at all.” Ouch. Though he couldn’t blame his soulmate, they had probably met multiple times over the years and he had never recognized him. But now he knew, Yuuri Katsuki. He finally knew who his soulmate was. Then it dawned on him, he really was the worst sort of person. Yuuri had gotten bronze during the Grand Prix Finals and Victor couldn’t remember talking to him. He had a lot to make up to his soulmate.

“Now what?” Victor wanted to let Yuuri set the pace for things since he had ruined things so thoroughly for them already. He also feared he would push too much and too soon. Now that he had found his soulmate, he didn’t want to risk losing them for good.

“I don’t know. I honestly didn’t expect to talk to you again.” Victor’s heart sank.

“Are you disappointed?” Victor locked his phone and took a few calming breaths.

“How could I be disappointed by you?” His breath caught in his throat, the response caught him by surprise. But Victor couldn’t help but wonder if Yuuri felt that way because of who he was. Yuuri didn’t really know him but he supposed he should be thankful that his reputation and previous treatment of him hadn’t soured his soulmate’s opinion of him completely.

“Most would be.”

“Do you promise not to judge me?” Victor’s brows furrowed at the question, it seemed out of place in the conversation.

“I promise.” Only a few minutes later he received a video file. When he pressed play, his mouth dropped open. Victor wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this. Hastily, he turned the volume up to the max level and restarted the video. Barely audible, he could hear Yuuri say, “And here you can see all my shame.” His room was covered in posters, all of them were of Victor. While Victor knew he was a fan, this was more than he had expected; not that he minded in the slightest. He wanted to cry from happiness. Despite how horrible he had been to Yuuri as competitor and despite all the things the media said about him, Yuuri was still liked him enough to surround himself in posters of Victor.

“Please don’t be ashamed of it. I can’t believe you still supported me after I was so rude to you.” Victor didn’t deserve anything from him, not as his competitor and certainly not as his soulmate. “Your voice is adorable.” Victor wasn’t even sure if Yuuri realized his voice was audible in the video but he really did have such a cute voice. He wanted to hear it person.

“I’ve been watching you skate since I was a child. You’re the reason I started skating.” The tears were flowing freely now as Victor’s hand come up to cover his mouth, he couldn’t believe any of this was real. “Sorry. That was too much.” Then all of the words were scrubbed away.

“No! I just didn’t know how to respond. I don’t deserve your admiration.” It was the truth, even if it was self-deprecating. Victor had never felt like this before. His soulmate was unreal in his kindness, forgiving even when Victor didn’t remotely deserve it. Yuuri was the most pure person he had ever spoken to before. And he was lucky enough to have him as a soulmate.

“It feels surreal to talk to you.” Victor winced, they had spoken before even if he couldn’t remember the conversation. He couldn’t help but wonder what he had been like. “I mean like this.” Yuuri completely ignored what he said, it probably made him uncomfortable. Everything he saw about him online said he was modest, even to the point of putting himself down in favor of others. “I’m sure I’ll regret embarrassing myself like this but it only feels fair to tell you I’ve had a crush on you for as long as I can remember, if the posters weren’t telling enough.” Victor’s face flushed. He hadn’t actually assumed that from the posters. Admiration he had expected but a crush he had not, but it was most welcome. Yuuri had so much time to develop feelings for Victor, even if he didn’t know that they were soulmates. He squashed the feeling of unfairness welling up, it was his own fault that he didn’t have the same time. But he had the time going forward.

“I wish I could talk to you in person, its hard like this.” Now that he knew who his soulmate was, Victor wanted to see them immediately. He felt bad for changing the subject abruptly but he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t reciprocate the feelings and anything he could say in response didn’t seem adequate. Victor hoped that Yuuri didn’t think he was brushing off the confession.

“Maybe tomorrow.” Victor breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow he might get to see his soulmate’s face, see their reactions when they spoke. It all felt unreal. “I have a special practice tomorrow so I have to go.”

Just like that, the conversation was over. Belatedly, Victor realized that he should head to bed as well. The evening had slipped away from him as he spoke to Yuuri. Morning practice would be hell but it was well worth the loss of sleep to finally talk to his soulmate, to find out who they were, and to reach a good point with them. Victor fell asleep with a smile on his face for the first time in years. It felt like the void was starting to fill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor receives quite the surprise at practice.

Victor walked into the rink smiling. Today he would get to see Yuuri’s face, get to actually talk to him. They hadn’t worked out the details last night but he assumed they would trade contact details so they could communicate on something other than Twitter going forward. His jovial mood was concerning to Yuri who wouldn’t quit asking what was wrong with him. In the middle of brushing Yuri’s probing questions off, he stopped abruptly. Victor’s eyes widened as he grabbed at Yuri’s arm. “Is that who I think it is?” Yuri followed his line of sight and looked at Victor in confusion.

“That’s the Japanese ace, Yuuri Katsuki.” Pulling his arm out of Victor’s grasp, he kept walking. Yuri seemed unfazed by the appearance of a new skater in the rink but Victor’s heart was pounding.

“Why is he here?” Standing by the barrier, Yuuri was talking to Yakov as if everything was completely normal.

“Stop being so weird.” Yuri said over his shoulder as he kept walking. But Victor couldn’t move, he felt rooted to the spot at the sight of Yuuri.

Victor was unsure how long he stood there while his rinkmates walked past him, shooting odd looks as they passed by him. “Vitya! Get over here.” Victor’s steps were shaky as he approached his coach and Yuuri. “Give Yuuri a tour of the rink and its facilities, I need to start warm-ups for everyone else.” Victor’s head snapped towards Yuuri, looking for his reaction to the whole situation but his face was unreadable. There was a flush across his cheeks. Victor could only assume they had been at the rink before everyone else. Yakov liked to privately access new skaters before he through them to the wolves during open practice.

Victor didn’t say anything but dropped his bag on one of the benches and lead Yuuri away from the rest of their rinkmates. As soon as they were out of sight of Yakov, he stopped and turned towards Yuuri. “What are you doing here?”

“Is there a problem?” Yuuri’s face was still completely unreadable.

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.” This definitely felt like something that should have been mentioned last night, especially after Yuuri had found out who he was. “Why didn’t you tell me?” It hurt a little that Yuuri had kept this from him.

“Would it have changed anything?” The question caught him off-guard. While it might not have affected anything, it would have been nice to know that Yuuri was going to be here instead of finding out with everyone one else.

“I just wish you had told me.” Victor knew his voice sounded petulant but this felt like something important. Now the offhand agreement that they might talk face-to-face today seemed more understandable, Victor had just assumed that Yuuri meant some kind of video-chatting.

“Well, now you know.” Yuuri’s tone was flat, as it had been for the entirety of the conversation. Victor wondered if something had changed from last night to today to change Yuuri’s interactions with him. “Are you going to show me the rest of the building?” Victor just nodded and proceeded to give him a tour of the place. The entire thing felt forced as he treated Yuuri like any other new skater to the rink. It killed him inside that Yuuri was behaving in such a distant manner now they that they were face-to-face. By the time they returned to Yakov, Victor had an uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

“Can we talk?” Victor felt vulnerable in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time, even last night he hadn’t felt like this. Yuuri looked up from lacing his skates.

“Not now, Victor.” Looking around, the other skaters were staring.

“After practice?” Victor just wanted a chance for them to be alone and talk about things, not through social media. He hadn’t expected for Yuuri to be here but he wasn’t going to let the opportunity to pass him by. “Please?” Yuuri nodded and joined everyone else on the ice.

The rest of the skaters introduced themselves to Yuuri, he seemed more cordial with them than he had with Victor. It hurt to watch him laugh and interact with this rinkmates while his soulmate had been so distant to him. Yakov ran them all through a brutal practice, Victor was convinced he was attempting to show off for his new pupil. Victor couldn’t keep his eyes off of Yuuri, something that got him reprimanded multiple times.

Throughout the day, he could feel the eyes of his rinkmates on him. Victor wondered how long it would be before they started asking questions, things he didn’t have answers to yet. Yuuri was here and was his soulmate, but he didn’t particularly want to share that with anyone. Especially not until he had spoken to Yuuri and knew how comfortable he would feel with other people finding out. Victor managed to dodge the questions they asked him during breaks, but it was only delaying the inevitable. He would have to bring up telling their rinkmates when he finally got to talk to Yuuri alone after practice.

By the end of practice, he was itching to leave. Victor was unsure how his conversation would go with Yuuri. He wanted to know where they stood, even though he had no real right to demand answers from Yuuri after how he had treated him for years. Now that he was so close, Victor felt like he would go insane if he had to pretend everything was normal with him around. It felt unnatural to act like he didn’t know Yuuri throughout the day, to act like he was just curious about their new rinkmate. Even if he didn’t really know his soulmate, he desperately wanted to and was now unsure if he would be given the opportunity.

While he was slipping on his regular shoes and packing his bag, Yuuri sat down next to him. Victor looked up in surprise, noting that Yuuri appeared ready to leave. “Yakov told me you would show me around.” Victor’s eye widened in surprise. What had Yuuri told Yakov that made their coach say that? The few remaining people around them also seemed surprised at Yuuri’s statement, their coach rarely told new skaters to come to Victor because he didn’t always come off the kindest to them. Victor was very focused on his own career. It didn’t negate the fact that he was careless with his words but he was. But he certainly didn’t mind showing Yuuri around, it was nearly what he wanted anyways.

“I’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes.” Yuuri nodded and pulled out his phone while he waited. Victor took a deep breath before continuing to pack his bag, trying to appear normal. It was going to be a long day. Yuuri had only been here for a short time and already he felt completely thrown off by his presence. The rink had always been a routine place for him and having Yuuri here was making everything change, not that he minded. Victor just didn’t know how to deal with it all so suddenly. He wished Yuuri had at least warned him last night, given him some hint that he was going to be at the rink.

“Where are we going?” Yuuri turned to look at Victor as they walked out of the facility. Victor thought for a moment, he hadn’t been planning to go anywhere in particular but it would be nice to go somewhere comfortable while they talked. Victor only smiled at him and gestured for Yuuri to follow him.

The café was only a short walk from the rink. Victor often went there when he needed to think, to get away from everything. He had spent more time in the café than he overly wanted to admit. The last season had been particularly rough for him. Yuuri seemed pleased when they entered the café. He had to translate the menu for Yuuri but he loved every second of it. From then on, he wanted to take Yuuri to more Russian cafes. Places that he would have to lean close to whisper the translations.

When they sat down with their drinks in facing armchairs, Victor was at a loss for where to start. There were so many things he wanted to talk about. So many things that they needed to figure out. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Yuuri spoke. “I’m sorry.” Victor’s head snapped up at the words, they were completely unexpected. “For today. I wasn’t very kind.” Yuuri wasn’t looking at him, instead he was studying the cup of tea in his hands.

“I probably deserved it.” Yuuri had been far more forgiving than he expected the previous night, despite the years of emotional torment Victor had probably put him through.

“Doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do.” Yuuri finally looked at him, the guilt evident in his eyes. “I wanted to surprise you, see if you knew who I even was. But then last night…it made things more complicated.” Yuuri sighed, looking back down as his tea. “It was petty of me to do it and I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad, Yuuri. Today was just…confusing.” Victor remembered all the curious glances from his rinkmates and laughed. “I think my…our rinkmates will like you though. You throw me off.” Yuuri’s gaze met his suddenly.

“I do?” Victor nodded, smiling slightly. Normally he would be too embarrassed to admit one of his own shortcomings but he felt like he owed a lot to Yuuri. “But…you’re Victor Nikiforov.”

“Yes. And you are Yuuri Katsuki.” Yuuri narrowed his eyes at him but there was no threat behind the look. “Getting stuck in a cycle of apologies isn’t going to help us, Yuuri.”

“Right.” He took a deep breath, setting his drink down on the table between them. “A fresh start, that’s what I said last night.” Victor nodded, wondering where he was going with this. Yuuri reached his hand across the table. “I’m Yuuri Katsuki, I was scouted by Yakov. He actually offered to be my coach, I couldn’t refuse.”

“Yakov came looking for you?” Victor knew this was getting them off track from the start but he hadn’t known that. Yakov rarely went looking for skaters, he got too many calls and requests to teach students. This would be the first time he had taken on a foreign student and he had gone looking for him. Yuuri cleared his throat and gave Victor a pointed look, but he could see amusement in his eyes at the same time. “Oh. Right. I’m Victor Nikiforov, nice to meet you.” Victor shook his hand and smiled.

“I look forward to being rinkmates.” Yuuri smiled at him and sat back in his chair.

“Just rinkmates?” It wasn’t fair of him to ask that but he couldn’t help himself. That was the reason they were here in the first place.

“We have to start somewhere, Victor.”

“Did you bring your dog with you?” Yuuri’s eyes widened at the question and Victor realized he had outed himself. No one should have known that he had spent a good portion of his free time since talking to Yuuri the previous night stalking all forms of social media. They may have been bare but there were still pictures of his dog, a poodle like his own.

“No, Vicchan lives with my parents.” Yuuri blushed slightly at the mention of his dog. Victor was slightly disappointed that Yuuri’s dog wasn’t here in Russia with him.

“Vicchan? That’s a cute name, what does it mean?”

“Oh.” Yuuri’s blushed deepened before he answered the question. “His name is actually Victor. Vicchan is a nickname.” Victor stared at Yuuri with his mouth agape. Admiration, a crush, those were the things that he had found out last name. Naming his dog after Victor seemed like so much more than that. At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder if Yuuri would ever call him that or if it would be too weird.

“In Russia we generally use Vitya.” He wasn’t entirely sure how he would handle it if Yuuri started calling him that, especially in front of other people. Victor idly wondered if he would just melt at the sound of it.

“Is that what you want me to call you?” Yuuri asked with a sly smile. Victor nodded, swallowing and wondered if he had just made things more difficult for himself. “I can do that.”

Victor took a deep breath. “We need to talk about something.” Yuuri looked startled, the easy mood that had been established vanished. He regretted that but he needed to know what he was allowed to say or do at the rink, the last thing he wanted to do was upset Yuuri. “Other people, our rinkmates, they are going to notice something is…off.”

“They were starring today.” Victor nodded. “I thought that was because I was new and most obviously not Yakov’s typical student.”

“It’s a combination of both. Partially because no one knew you were coming, Yakov sprung that on us today. Also because I was starring, it made them curious.” Victor doubted Yuuri knew that Yakov had surprised them all with his appearance today. He had probably been alarmed by their rinkmates’ reactions.

“You were starring?” Victor met his gaze and saw only surprise. How could he not have noticed Victor’s eyes glued to him all day, or all the reprimands he received because of it? “Why?”

“How could I not?” Yuuri could only stare at him, his expression vulnerable and confused. It seemed their problems went even deeper than miscommunication. Victor and Yuuri were on completely different pages about this entire affair. “Yuuri, you’re my soulmate. That means something to me. Beyond that, you’re also fascinating to watch.”

A deep blush colored Yuuri’s cheeks and Victor felt satisfied that he had elicited a positive reaction from him. “Is it because we are soulmates or because you like to watch me skate?”

“Can’t it be both?” Victor brows furrowed at the question. Yuuri didn’t respond, only pulling his bottom lip between his teeth to chew on it. “Yuuri, is it bad that I am more curious because you are my soulmate?”

“You didn’t even know who I was before that.”

“I knew you were a competitor, though I regret not recognizing you off the ice.” Victor had found the picture of them together, one of the few posted to Yuuri’s Instagram account. He had looked as enchanting there as he did on the ice, but the addition of his glasses and unstyled hair had been enough to keep Victor from recognizing him. “I am sorry for that, Yuuri. I know I can be oblivious but I don’t intentionally want to hurt people.”

“It’s just hard to believe you would even pay attention to me. You seem like you are taking an interest because we are soulmates, nothing else. That should be enough but…it just isn’t.” Victor hadn’t expected this reaction but he should have.

“I wish I hadn’t made you feel like that, Yuuri. Will you give me a chance to properly apologize?” Yuuri nodded and Victor breathed a sigh of relief. While Yuuri had said they could start fresh, that had been unlikely. There were too many things that Victor wanted to make up for and Yuuri obviously still had doubts about him, not that he blamed him. “While starting over doesn’t seem possible, we can move forward.”

“I-I would like that.” Yuuri smiled shyly at him and Victor found himself beaming. He felt like the weight settled on him this morning was finally lifting. “Things are going to be weird at practice, aren’t they?”

“People have already noticed, we will have to tell them something if we want them to stop asking questions.” It was the harsh truth. The Russian skating team was exceptionally nosy. They would continue to pester the pair until one of them said something that satisfied their curiosity. “What do you want to tell them?”

“Me?” Victor nodded with an amused smile at Yuuri’s surprise. He fully intended to let Yuuri lead this entire thing, he wanted him to feel comfortable. Victor had spent most of his life around his rinkmates. By allowing Yuuri to control what they told everyone, he hoped it would allow his soulmate to find some comfort in their rink as well. “They are going to find out eventually, about everything?”

“It might take some time for them to piece it together but yes, they will.”

“Would it be easier if we just told them from the beginning?” Victor’s eyes widened. He had hoped that Yuuri would tell them they were soulmates but he hadn’t actually expected him to be alright with doing that, at least not from the start.

“They would probably be surprised but it would definitely stop most of the questions. Yuuri, you don’t have to do that. I don’t mind dodging their questions until you feel comfortable telling people.” The last thing he wanted was for Yuuri to push himself too far, too fast. That would only damage things in the future for them.

“Better just to tell people now than have them find out later. That will only make the questions worse.” Victor swallowed his words, automatically wanting to soothe Yuuri’s worries but he knew exactly how his rinkmates could be. “Plus I’m not very good at lying.” Yuuri smiled at him then, tentatively.

“If that’s what you want then that’s what we’ll do.” Yuuri looked at him curiously as he spoke. Instantly, Victor wondered if he had done something wrong, again.

“Victor, are you sure you’re the one that doesn’t want people to know?” His words were soft, unsure but they reverberated in Victor’s mind.

“No! That’s not it at all.” Victor sucked in a deep breath, unsure how things had gotten to this point already. He knew that Yuuri was not confident in himself, it was obvious in the way that he spoke about himself, but he had not expected Yuuri to reflect those feelings onto Victor. “I just don’t want you to feel obligated.” Yuuri didn’t look like he fully believed Victor’s words but he didn’t press the issue either.

“How do we do this?” At that, Victor was at a loss. He had anticipated hiding his ties to Yuuri for the sake of his soulmate’s comfort. He assumed telling people would come later on.

“I actually didn’t have anything in mind.” As he said that, an idea bloomed. Victor knew he would be mean to his rinkmates but it also seemed a fair way to pay them back from their constant prying into people’s personal lives. “Yuuri, how do you feel about messing with them a little?”

“I supposed it depends on what you intended.” There was a glint in his eyes, Yuuri wasn’t adverse to this as he was hoping to appear.

“It would require us to be at least somewhat…affectionate with each other.” Victor couldn’t lie, this was also a fantastic way for him to get closer to Yuuri. Even though it was exceptionally selfish of him to want more.

“Oh.” A faint blush reappeared on his cheeks. He was going to give them away in an instant with the way he reacted to everything. Victor loved it though. “What did you have in mind?”

“We could pretend this has been going on all along, that would certainly confuse them.” Yuuri tilted his head slightly, not completely following what Victor was saying. “We would act like a couple, make them feel like they missed up being together the entire time.”

“Wouldn’t today be an indicator of the opposite?” That would be difficult, but not impossible, to explain. He was fairly certain they could manage it though.

“Obviously we don’t have to….” Victor was slightly dismayed that Yuuri seemed against the idea but it was a longshot to begin with. Yuuri shook his head vehemently, the blush still evident on his cheeks. “Is this something you want to do? It would take some of the awkwardness away from telling people.”

“I think it will definitely be entertaining.” Yuuri smiled at him again and Victor determined at that moment that he would do just about anything to keep seeing him like that. They spent the rest of the afternoon in that café hammering out the details of their plan.

When Victor returned to his apartment, he felt overwhelmed. Nothing that happened during the day had been routine, everything had bene a new surprise. While he had been thrilled to see Yuuri, he had almost missed his chance in the same day. To think he was so close to losing everything twice in the span of 24 hours terrified him. He could only hope that going forward, things would get better between them. Yuuri’s doubt was caused by Victor’s harmful obliviousness but he wanted to ensure that Yuuri felt wanted for something other than their bond as soulmates.

As he drifted to sleep, he thought of tomorrow. He would get to spend the entire day with Yuuri again, but this time it would be by his side. Everyone would know they were soulmates and no one could ever take that away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, life got a little crazy for a while. I’m not going to make any promises about updating on a consistent schedule but I will try to update more frequently.

The pair met at Victor’s apartment in the morning. His heart was pounding when he heard a knock on the door. Makkachin was thrilled to have a visitor, if only for a minute. Victor’s heart warmed when Yuuri sat on the floor to allow Maaka to shower him kisses while he pet her. They could only linger for a short time before they had to head to practice. When they entered together, many of their rinkmates openly stared at them. Yuuri was squirming slightly under the attention of so many people until Victor threw his arm around his shoulders to pull him in close.

  
“Don’t let them get to you, Yura.” He whispered into his arm, soft enough that those around them couldn’t hear. Mila winked at Victor when they passed her and he gave her a small smile. When they reached the benches, he regretfully removed his arm from Yuuri’s shoulders. As they both sat to change into their skates, Yuuri looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

  
“Yura?” It was Victor’s turn to blush then, not realizing he had said that instead of Yuuri’s actual name. Part of him was glad he had said in low enough that his rinkmates hadn’t heard. If they had, it would have made the teasing much worse than it already was going to be.

  
“It’s a Russian diminutive. Like Vitya.” Yuuri looked at him fully then, releasing the ties on his skates.

  
“Is that what I should call you then?” Victor swore his heart stopped in that moment. The thought of Yuuri calling him Vitya on a regular basis short-circuited his brain. Taking in the look on his face, Yuuri’s smile was wicked. “I’ll take that as a yes.” It was a complete turnaround from the shy man he had sat across from yesterday but he was not complaining in the slightest. If Yuuri wanted to flirt with him and call him Vitya then he was certainly going to let him.

  
“And is Yura acceptable for you?” Yuuri appeared to consider it for a moment before shrugging. Victor stared him mouth slightly agape as he stood.

  
“If that’s what you want, Vitya.” He smiled once more before walking off to join the others on the ice. He could hear the others asking questions in rapid fire but Yakov yelled for them to start skating before it could get too far. Victor sat there in shock for a few more seconds before he stepped onto the ice.

  
“Oi, what’s up with you and Katsuki?” Yuri skated up next to him with a curious look on his face. Victor looked out to the center of the rink where a few of his rinkmates had grouped up around Yuuri and smiled.

  
“It’s none of your concern.” The young skater scowled at Victor before huffing off. He joined Yuuri on the ice and they immediately paired off to run through routine elements. Victor had assumed Yuuri would partner with him, he hadn’t released the two even knew each other that well. He ended up the odd man out and worked with Yakov as he relentlessly ran him through different elements until they met his satisfaction.

  
Every time he had a moment to glance over at Yuuri, he caught the pair laughing at something he had missed. Whenever Yuuri caught his gaze, he would wink and turn back to his task. Victor hadn’t seen Yuuri’s routine yet but he could tell by the pieces he was practicing that it would be the death of him. Every move seemed to accentuate the swing of his hips or the gentle curves of his body.

  
“Victor! Pay attention.” He slowly turned back towards his coach but Yakov followed his line of sight and sighed. “Do not let the boy distract you. You have your own season to worry about.”

  
“Why are you coaching him?” It had been on his mind since seeing Yuuri walk into practice yesterday.

  
“You’ve never questioned my choice of students before.” Victor narrowed his eyes at his coach before looking over at Yuuri again, he stood out easily amongst the rest of Yakov’s students. “He’s Japan’s ace and was left without a coach.” Yakov’s expression darkened there and Victor knew there was more going on than he was aware of.

  
“How unlike you.” Yakov was not known for taking in stray skaters, even when they were left high and dry by their previous coaches.

  
“I saw something in him.”

  
“Can I tell you a secret?” Victor had never stopped talking to Yakov about his personal life but it was rare that he asked if his coach actually wanted to hear everything that was going on. A look of confusion passed his face as he nodded, curious what his longest student could be so excited to share. “He’s my soulmate.”

  
Yakov’s eyes widened slightly before glancing over at Yuuri, as if appraising him. “Yuuri told me already, before practice yesterday.” Taking in his startled expression, Yakov smiled. It was a rare thing that he could surprise his students. “I had not expected you to tell me as well. Yuuri said that you two had not spoken about it yet.” Victor watched Yuuri glide across the ice unabashedly, unable to process the fact that Yuuri had told Yakov himself. A new coach in a new country, he was so trusting right away.

  
“I don’t know what to say to him.”

  
“You, who never shuts up, doesn’t know what to say to someone?” Victor narrowed his eyes at his coach, a pout forming on his lips. “Oh, wipe that expression off your face. I’m allowed to be surprised that you are left speechless by someone.”  
Yakov didn’t linger on the subject, barking at him to stop staring and get back to work. His words were just loud enough for some of the other skaters to overhear. It wouldn’t be long before every single skater at the rink would know he was opening staring at Yuuri. Victor threw himself back into practicing, determined to focus. As soon as Yakov called for a break, Yuuri was skating over to Victor with a wide smile on his face.

  
“Yuri spent the last few hours telling me how awful you are.” The color drained from Victor’s face as he tried to think what Yuri could have been saying to him. “Apparently you snore and cry at romantic movies.” Oh, that would seem horrible to a teenager trying to embarass him. Victor let out a sudden laugh, grateful that it was nothing as horrible as his brain had been conjuring up. “I told him that I would keep that all in mind though I wasn’t sure why he felt the need to tell me all that.”

  
Victor turned to see Yuri glaring at him from the other side of the rink, never taking his eyes off the two of them talking. He was unsure what he had done to anger the teen so quickly or why he felt so possessive of his Yuuri.

  
“Why do you think he said something?” It we unlike Yuri to get involved in anyone’s business, he preferred to call them names and say their romantic involvements were disgusting.

  
“Oh, we’ve talked about you...quite a lot.” There was a faint blush spreading over his cheeks at the admission.  
“You’ve been taking to Yuri about me.” Victor had not expected that in the slightest. Yuri generally didn’t like newcomers to the rink and Yuuri didn’t seem like someone to talk about such personal matters with a stranger.

  
“It came up a few nights ago, he saw the writing all over my arms.” That caused him to pause and consider the situation. Yuuri wasn’t looking at him now, his eyes were averted. After a few minutes of Victor not responding, he stepped around him so that he could exit the rink.

  
“Wait, Yuuri.” He took off after him, knowing that the entire rink likely had their eyes glued to the scene unfolding. He caught his arm as they reached the benches. “Yuuri, its not a bad thing, I just didn’t know.” Yuuri kept his eyes downcast but Victor could see the embarrassed expression on his face. They had the full attention of all their rinkmates, Victor should have known that would make his soulmate uncomfortable. He released his arm immediately. “Can we talk, please?”

  
Yuuri finally looked at him and nodded. They didn’t speak during the break or the next block of practice. It hurt Victor to know that his foolishness had caused this silence. Mila joined him for his cool down stretches and he knew that she wasn’t after his company.

  
“How do you know Yuuri?” Her eyes sparkled with curiosity. Victor knew he had to choose his words carefully, whatever he said would be repeated to everyone else as soon as she left his line of sight. Mila was a notorious gossip.

  
Before he could answer, Yuuri plopped down next to him on the mat with a sigh. “How do you all do this everyday? My old coaches never ran practices like this.”

  
“Yakov settles for nothing less than perfection.” Mila respond after too long of a pause. When she realized she wasn’t going to get the dirt she wanted, she immediately got up and huffed off. Yuuri chuckled as he watched the redhead stomp off, he had saved them both from her gossiping tendencies.

  
“She is quite determined. I guess she moved on you when she realized she wasn’t going to get me to say anything.” Victor looked over to Yuuri now, surprised to hear that Mila had gone after him first. Come to think it, not many of his rinkmates had approached him throughout the day. They had all gone to Yuuri, thinking he was the weaker link of the pair.

  
“What have you been telling everyone?” Yuuri didn’t answer right away, instead moving into the first of their stretching positions. Victor followed suit but waited for his response before saying anything further.

  
“I’ve been telling them that it’s personal.” That was certainly one way to put things. He was surprised that people were willing to leave it at that, his rinkmates were very persistent. “Not that it’s helped me in the slightest.” He rolled his eyes at Victor, that sounded more like the people he spent everyday with.

  
“And then what did you say?” Victor knew that he should let Yuuri stretch, he had spent the entire day being prodded by questions. But he had no idea how to respond to those questions either. After Yuuri rebuffing them all today, he imagined he would be the one being swarmed tomorrow.

  
“That I was surprised they hadn’t figured it out themselves, that it was obvious.” Yuuri winked at him before pushing into a stretch that was more suggestive than it ought to be. Victor busied himself with his own stretches, trying not to stare too hard at Yuuri.

  
“Oh?” He turned his head away from Yuuri, attempting to hide the blush that was coloring his cheeks. The thought of them being so obviously a couple was an attractive concept to him. One that he sincerely hoped was true.

  
“Though I was probably exaggerating a little. You spend a lot of time watching me but that’s about it.” Victor’s head snapped up to look at Yuuri, not expecting his brazenness. “You should probably do something about that.”

  
“What do you suggest I do?” Even Yuuri would have caught the waver in his voice. He had never been in a situation like this before, not that he was apt to complain.

  
“I guess we will have to work on that. Hmm, Vitya?” His heart skipped at the casual use of his name, there were few people who called him that.

  
“I would like that. I would like that a lot.” The smile Yuuri gave Victor reached his eyes, it was one of the first genuine smiles he had seen from him. “I’m unsure of what I’m allowed to say, what I’m allowed to do.” Victor pulled his lip between his teeth, worried that he would push too far.

  
“I don’t know either. This is new to me, Victor.” They were both fumbling through being soulmates while all of their rinkmates watched on. He wanted to be able to touch Yuuri, just in passing or to correct form. But he didn’t know if that would be too far or if Yuuri would assume it was all for the charade they were putting on for everyone. He had to admit that this was one of the worst ideas he had ever had.

  
“Will you come over for dinner tonight?” Being away from prying eyes seemed to make Yuuri more comfortable. And then he would know that anything Victor did was solely for him, not for their audience.

  
“Oh, I can’t.” Seeing Victors crestfallen expression, he added, “Yuri, he already asked me if we could do something tonight.”  
“You and Yuri seem like fast friends.” He knew that his voice sounded bitter at the words but he couldn’t help it. It struck him as odd that they had so quickly become friends when Yuri was so hesitant to talk to the people he had spent years with.

  
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was fast.” Yuuri sighed as he finished his last stretch, sitting back on his heels and looking at Victor with a sheepish expression. “I’ve been staying with Yakov and Lilia…” Which also happened to be where Yuri was staying this season to make his transition to the senior division easier.

  
“How long have you been here?” More accurately, how long has Yuuri been so close by but not with him, just out of his reach because of his own stupidity.

  
“A couple of weeks.” Yuuri’s words were barely audible but it was a stab to his heart. Weeks, he had missed out on weeks with him. “Yakov has had me practicing after hours until he was ready for me to join everyone else.” How many times had he thought about going to the rink late at night and not bothered because he had lost his spark for the ice?

  
“Oh.” Victor knew he should say something else but he had a lump in his throat and felt only moments from crying. A warm hand covered his own and he met Yuuri’s gaze, his eyes were soft and apologetic.

  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you when I got here.”

  
“Would you have said something if you did?” Victor had to wonder if things would have been different if Yuuri had known from the beginning who he was. But that wasn’t entirely fair to him, this was a mess of Victor’s creation. After years of ignoring him, he was finally paying the price.

  
“Yes. If nothing else, just to let you know before other people figured it out.” Yuuri audibly swallowed before continuing. “Though with so little communication between us, I doubt others would have known either.”

  
“I’m sorry, Yuuri, I know I haven’t been...the kindest to you over the years.”

  
“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t be bringing it up. We said we would just move forward, let these things go.” They were both sitting side by side, a little space between them aside from Yuuri’s covering his own. Looking around, everyone else was still stretching but they didn’t have long before they would be swarmed again.

  
Victor turned his hand, entertaining their fingers and smiled at him. There was a lot both of them had done wrong but Yuuri was right, all they could do was move forward from here. Neither of them should be dwelling on the past. Watching Yuuri carefully, he raised their hands slowly so he could kiss the back of Yuuri’s. Victor was filled with satisfaction when a faint blush bloomed on his cheeks but he never broke eye contact between them.

  
“I’m glad you’re here now, though I wish I could have spent some of that time with you. To become as close as you and Yuri have become.” Yuuri might be busy tonight but Victor could live with that. Despite longing to spend all of his free time with him, he knew that Yuuri was going to have a life outside of him. “If not tonight, would you come over tomorrow?”

  
“I think I could manage that.” A wide grin spread across his face and he was glad to see his expression mirrored by Yuuri.

“People are staring. I don’t think they’re even pretending not to now.” Yuuri’s voice dropped to a whisper. Victor didn’t look around this time, he was sure that Yuuri was right. Let them stare


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor isn’t sure what he has gotten himself into by agreeing to this scheme and goes for a late night skate that doesn’t end how he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to @ayawanderlust who reminded me that there are still people out there who want to see what happens with Yuuri and Victor. Thank for you continuing to read and reread this fic, it means a lot to me. Comments like yours are the reason I keep writing fanfiction.   
> This chapter is a little shorter than the others but this seemed like a good place to end things.

Victor wandered around his apartment after practice, trying to find something to fill the time until it was a more reasonable time to go to sleep. So quickly the things he used to pass his time with had ceased to hold his attention. Now, thoughts of Yuuri and the ice consumed him again. Yakov would probably kill him but he was already planning out a new routine, something more emotion-filled than his original free skate had been. 

After a couple of hours wandering around his apartment and diverting himself with a number of things, he decided it would be better just to go to the rink. The routine was taking shape in his mind and it would be a better use of his time just to work on it than continue like this. Not for the first time, he was thankful his apartment was so close to the rink.

Upon entering the rink, it appeared that he was not the only one who felt the call of extra time on the ice tonight. There was music echoing off the walls, he could see two skaters on the ice and what appeared to be Yakov standing next to the barrier. While he didn’t forbid his students from practicing late at night, most of them had ended up with keys of their own so they would enter the building legally, he never accompanied them. As he approached, he was careful to stay quiet. On the ice was Yuuri and Yuri, the elder seemed to be teaching Yuri some routine. Victor watched them run through different portions of a routine with the jumps marked. Why was Yuuri teaching Yuri a routine, shouldn’t he working on his own programs?

Victor stepped out of the shadows to stand next to Yakov who didn’t even flinch when he appeared. His coach’s eyes remained glued to the two figures making their way towards the barrier. 

“Victor!” Yuuri’s voice was high with surprised as his dark eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”

“Old man, go home. This is our practice time.” Yuri, as friendly as ever to him. There was a scowl on his face, he didn’t like sharing the ice with anyone. 

“I just came to skate, I didn’t realize anyone would be here.” Yuri rolled his eyes before skating back out to center ice. 

“Turn the music back on, I’ll run through it alone.” Yuri’s voice echoed in the mostly empty rink. His displeasure with Victor being here evident in every glance in his direction.  

“No jumps. Yuuri, off the ice.” Yakov waited for Yuuri to step behind the barrier before he started the music. Victor knew he should watch Yuri’s routine, to see what he was starting his first senior season with but he only had eyes for Yuuri right now. Yakov barked out commands as Victor led Yuuri to the benches where he could take a break. 

“Do you often practice late at night?” Yuuri didn’t look at him as he responded, his eyes were fixed on Yuri out on the ice. 

“Every night since I arrived, tonight Yuri decided he wanted to focus on his program.” Victor remembered Yuuri saying he practiced after hours but he hadn’t realized that Yakov and Yuri had accompanied him. They must all be exhausted, especially Yakov and Yuri who were running double practices. 

“Sorry to interrupt.” No wonder Yuri had been so irritated, ruder than usual, this was a private practice. 

“It’s alright, it’s not like you did it on purpose. Good luck convincing Yuri of that thought.” Yuuri still kept his gaze focused on the ice as Yuri ran through his routine. 

“I can leave.” Victor’s offer felt weak even to his own ears, he really didn’t want Yuuri to leave. His thoughts of Yuuri had driven him to the rink where he had ultimately encountered him. 

“We were just wrapping up, this should be his last run through.” Yuuri finally looked Victor ass Yuri skated to the barrier with a scowl on his face. “Looks like he’s done already.”

“Are you leaving with them?” Victor could hear the desperate edge to his voice but couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Yuuri looked at him in surprise. “That was my plan. I thought you came here to practice?” 

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you so I came here to work on a new routine.” The words tumbled out of his mouth as his cheeks reddened. Yuuri’s mouth dropped open at his candor. Even if he felt foolish, he would admit how he was really feeling to get him to stay.

“Gross, old man.” Yuri glared at him as he sat down on a nearby bench to remove his skates.

“It’s too late in the season to start a new routine, Vitya.” Yakov knew that such a warning would have little effect on what he did. This wasn’t the first time he had changed his routine far later than any of his competitors would have dared.

“Will you stay?” Victor ignored the other two in favor of Yuuri who only nodded in response. 

“Do not stay too long, you both have practice tomorrow.” Yakov spoke directly to Yuuri, knowing he was the more sensible of the pair. “No actual skating for you.”

“Yes, Coach.” Victor knew Yuuri would heed his warning, Victor wouldn’t have let him actually practice after knowing how much he had already been on the ice today. Or how much he had been skating since he arrived here. 

“See you at home.” Yuri said to Yuuri as they left the rink, completely ignoring Victor’s existence. 

“Did you mean what you said before?” Yuuri’s voice was quiet and he averted his gaze from Victor’s as he asked. Maybe what he had said before was too much too soon, Victor tended to go overboard when discussing his emotions.

“I did.”

“You barely know me.”

“That’s part of the problem. I want to get to know you but there’s not enough time in the day for everything.” 

“We’ll be spending most of the day here together.” Yuuri finished removing his skates and wiping them down as he spoke.

“There’s not a lot of time for talking during practice unless you want Yakov to yell at you.” Their coach left no time for chatting unless it was related to skating, even then it was difficult to get a moment alone that wasn’t spent preparing for the upcoming competitions.

“There isn’t much worth knowing about me outside of skating.” Yuuri turned away just in time to miss Victor’s mouth dropping open. “Didn’t you come here to skate?”

Victor didn’t respond, instead he busied himself lacing up his skates. He was turning Yuuri’s words over in his head and trying to figure out how his soulmate could believe there was nothing interesting about him aside from skating. Victor wanted to know everything about him. 

“Will you stay?” Victor didn’t have anything ready, only the bare bones of a new routine taking shape in his mind. But he didn’t want to Yuuri to leave either, he would throw something together so he didn’t look like a complete fool.

“Are you sure you want me here for this?” Victor generally only allowed Yakov around when planning his routines, this stage was usually too emotional for him to share with anyone else. It just made sense for Yuuri to be here this time.

“Of course.” Victor smiled at Yuuri brightly before stepping on the ice. He ran through a quick warm up before moving into the sequences that had been bouncing around in his head. When he glanced back at Yuuri, his eyes were fixed on Victor with an adoring expression. Quickly, Victor returned his attention to the ice before he made a fool of himself by falling flat on his face. 

Victor lost himself in his skating for a couple of hours, working out the kinks in his routine until he had something more solid to work with. Skating over to the barrier where Yuuri was leaning, he asked, “What do you think?” 

“You- It was beautiful. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when its done.” Victor wanted to know what he was going to originally say but didn’t push Yuuri.  He stepped off the ice and sunk onto one of the hard benches gratefully. His body was already aching and it would only be worse when he woke up the next day. He couldn’t regret it, not when it meant he had gotten to spend time with Yuuri away from prying eyes. 

“Do you need a ride home?” Yuuri looked as tired as Victor felt, the double practices would have to stop now that he had officially joined their regular practices. 

“I could fall asleep on this bench right now.” Yuuri laid back on one of them, Victor knew from experience that they weren’t comfortable but he had also fallen asleep on them few times in his youth. 

“You could stay at my apartment tonight, it’s closer than Yakov’s house.” Victor bit his lip, waiting for the inevitable rejection. Yuuri yawned as he sat up, all those practices had worn him down. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose.” He stretched his arms over his head, his shirt riding up ever so slightly on his stomach. Victor averted his gaze from the exposed skin, knowing it would embarrass Yuuri if he realized where his attention was focused. “I can call a cab to get back to Yakov’s.” 

“Are you sure?” Yuuri stumbled as he stood, too tired to keep functioning on double practices and limited sleep.  “You look dead on your feet.” Victor stepped forward to put a steadying had on his waist, keeping Yuuri upright.

“Victor, you don’t need to invite me to your apartment out of courtesy.” Victor jolted at the words, they were completely unexpected. The thought had never crossed his mind. The desire to see Yuuri at his home was more than he would ever admit me to the other at this point in their newly formed relationship. If he could even call it that.

“It’s nothing like that.” Yuuri looked at him curiously, trying to read his expression through a haze of tiredness. “You need sleep, come on.” 

Instead of asking again, he turned to grab their bags. As he turned back to to guide Yuuri out of the rink, he was surprised to feel cold fingers entertained with his own. His heart fluttered in his chest but he didn’t say anything about the touch initiated by Yuuri. 

The pair said nothing as they exited the rink or as they walked back to Victor’s apartment. He had never expected Yuuri to actually follow him, he thought he would shake out of it and insist to be driven home. But that moment never came. Victor thought he had wandered into some sort of fever dream as he watched Yuuri walk into his apartment, taking everything in. 

“Are you sure it's alright if I stay here?” Yuuri turned to face him, uncertainty clear in his eyes. Victor nodded, trying not to seem too enthusiastic about the prospect. “Um...where can I sleep?” He looked toward the couch which Victor knew was incredibly uncomfortable front he number of nights he had passed out there. 

“I have a spare room.” Victor gestured towards the room next to his own. He stepped forward to open the door while Yuuri remained rooted in his spot. Lookin him over, Victor realized how foreign all of this must have seemed to. Yuuri. “Just get some sleep, we can talk in the morning.”

Yuuri smiled, finally moving and taking his bag from Victor’s outstretched hand. “Goodnight, Vitya.” As Yuuri disappeared into the room and shut the door behind him, Victor remained frozen. They had agreed on names to use but he had expected to hear it used around others, when they were acting a couple. Not in the privacy of his apartment, when they the two of them were alone and there was no one to convince. 

After a few minutes, he finally forced himself to go to bed. Makkachin jumped up onto the bed with him. Skating had done nothing to calm his thoughts, now all he could think about was the man sleeping in the room next to him. It was going to be a long night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t promise regular updates as I’ve been displaced by Hurricane Michael in the last couple of weeks but I will try to update a few more times before the end of the year. This isn’t my best chapter but I can’t remember exactly where I had intended for this to go so for now, I’ll just type and see where our characters end up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri and Victor get into an argument about who Yuuri belongs to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET AT MY HOUSE AFTER THREE MONTHS  
> Sorry this update took so long but I've had this written for a couple of days and I didn't get internet access again until last night. Things are finally getting better during the hurricane recovery but my home still looks really rough.   
> Thank you for bearing with me while I take far too long to write chapter updates. I said I would try my best to get another chapter done before the end of the year and here it is. Not sure it's what people are expecting though. ;)

Victor sighed at his reflection in the mirror, dabbing concealer under his eyes ineffectively. There would be no hiding those circles today. That would be sure to fuel the rumors that were already beginning to circulate about the pair of them. A soft knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts.

“Victor?” He hurriedly pulled the door open to see Yuuri, still in the same clothes as the night before with his hair wonderfully messy from a night of sleep. “Uh...Can I use your shower before we go to practice?” Yuuri averted his gaze as he asked. Victor was thankful that he wouldn’t see the way that his cheeks inflamed at the innocent question.

“Of course!” Victor felt like an idiot, forgetting that the only shower was connected to his room. He grabbed everything he needed from the bathroom quickly and gestured for Yuuri to come in. Red painted his cheeks as he hesitantly entered the room. Victor left before he said anything stupid or made Yuuri feel even more uncomfortable.

Victor busied himself with making breakfast and tried to forget that Yuuri was currently in his room...in his shower. Victor shook his head, trying not to let his mind wander too far down that path. This was something that he hadn’t even thought about when he had invited Yuuri to come back with him last night.

By the time Yuuri re-emerged, he had tidied most of his living room and kitchen. Just trying to find something to pass the time. Yuuri smiled at him gently as he entered the room, bag in hand. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Would you like some coffee?” Victor gestured to the full pot on the counter, unsure if Yuuri even drank coffee.

“Oh. Um...do you have tea?” Victor rummaged through the cabinets, hoping to find something but he had never been the biggest fan of tea. Yuuri poured himself a small cup of coffee when he realized the answer was a resounding no.

“What kind of tea do you like?” Victor made a mental note to go to the store after practice to pick up whatever type he prefered. He wanted to make sure he had things here that Yuuri liked...whenever he managed to get him here again.

“I usually just drink green tea but I like most types.” Yuuri made a face when he took his first sip of coffee. Victor couldn’t help but chuckle at the unpleasant expression.

“Not a fan?”

“Coffee is usually too strong for me, especially in the morning.” Victor face dropped, he tended to make his coffee even stronger. He wasn’t much of a morning person and he needed something to get him going before he left for practice. “But caffeine is caffeine.”

“Next time I’ll make sure to have tea for you.” Yuuri froze, his cup halfway to his face with his mouth wide open.

“Next time?” A blush bloomed on his face. He mentally kicked himself for saying anything at all.

“Uh...I mean, I hope so.” Victor pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, unsure of how Yuuri would even react. Inviting him over last night had been unplanned, but he had been dead on his feet.

“Maybe under different circumstances?” Victor breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, a smile on his face. He would have to have him over for dinner soon, actually plan something nice for the two of them when they had a day off or something.

“I...I would really like that.” Yuuri smiled in response. Victor felt like a teenager again, unsure how to talk to anyone without making a fool of himself. He was sure that his rinkmates would have a grand time teasing him if they could only see how much Yuuri flustered him.

A peaceful silence fell between them as they both prepared to leave for the rink. As Victor was gathering his things so they could head to practice, he turned to see Yuuri staring at his phone with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Though he had not known Yuuri for long, he scrambled to think what on his phone could have caused such a panicked expression. Instead of answering, Yuuri flipped his phone around for Victor to see. There were dozens of messages and missed calls from Yuri and Yakov, starting last night and continuing into this morning. “Oh.”

Yuuri starting frantically typing out a response to them, his thumbs flying across the screen of his phone. “We should go.” Yuuri didn’t even look up at Victor as he said this, completely focused on calming Yuri and Yakov down from whatever panic not coming home last night had caused. Practice would be…interesting today, Victor was sure that Yuri’s hatred of him would be increased exponentially now.

Victor sighed as they left for the rink, not looking forward to practice as much as he had been before Yuuri had discovered all the missed messages and calls on his phone. As soon as they walked through the door, Yuri dragged Yuuri away from with only a glare in Victor’s direction. Yakov stalked over to him and Victor could see most of his rinkmates watching the entire scene with rapt curiosity.

“You are an idiot.” Victor rolled his eyes at Yakov’s curt words. He certainly had expected such a response from his coach. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Yuuri had only stayed for Victor’s impromptu practice and then stayed over at his apartment. It’s not like they suddenly disappeared for weeks. “I mean it, Victor. You should be more careful with the boy, you barely know each other.”

“What?” The words weren’t lining up with what Victor thought he was being scolded for. “That’s what we are trying to do, get to know each other.”

Yakov’s eyebrows raised at Victor’s words and he regarded his carefully before continuing. “What exactly happened last night?”

“Yuuri stayed to watch me practice after you two left and then he stayed at my apartment. He was so tired he could barely stand and my place is closer.” Victor shrugged, trying to rid himself of the feeling that he was being questioned when he hadn’t done anything wrong. It didn’t escape his notice how quick Yakov was to protect Yuuri, his newest student, instead of Victor, who had been his student since he was a child.

“That’s it?”

“What else would we…” Victor’s eyes widened as he realized what Yakov, and likely everyone else, had assumed about Yuuri spending the night at his apartment. “No. Nothing like that. He just slept in the spare bedroom.”

Yakov narrowed his eyes at Victor but ultimately accepted his explanation with a grunt. He said nothing else as walked over to a group of younger students, preparing them for warm-ups. Victor was left with a sense of embarrassment he had rarely felt in his life. Everyone in the rink was assuming that they had sex, that they had arrived together this morning because of that. Not that he minded the idea but he didn’t like everyone assuming that about them, they were still getting to know each other…still figuring out what kind of relationship they could even have.

Victor was at a loss for how to even handle this situation, he needed to talk to Yuuri and soon. They were already pretending to know each other. Instead of dropping hints, they needed to tell people that they were a couple. It wouldn’t stop the rumors about them sleeping together but it would at least make people stop staring at them if they dared to come to practice together again. Which Victor very much hoped they would, he wanted to spend every possible moment he could with Yuuri.

Victor threw himself into practice, trying to keep his mind off everything. His life had become more complicated in the blink of an eye. During the break, he would finally be able to talk to Yuuri. They could figure out a plan for how to handle their rinkmates and maybe Yuuri could ask Yuri to calm down with the glaring across the rink. That was going to get old very quickly. The two had never gotten along but Victor didn’t like being the source of Yuri’s hatred simply because he felt like he had some sort of claim on Yuuri.

“Stay away from him.”

“Excuse me.” Victor was startled by Yuri’s words, by the force behind them.

“I said stay away from him.” Yuri didn’t back down, attempting to stare Victor down despite their height difference. In a different situation, Victor might have laughed.

“I heard you, I think you ought to stay out of this.” As if things weren’t difficult enough, Yuri was really going to try to scare him away from his soulmate. Now that he had found him, nothing would keep Victor away from Yuuri unless his soulmate specifically told him that he no longer wanted to see Victor. He doubted that would happen anytime soon.

“I meant what I said. You are going to hurt him.” Victor scoffed. What did Yuri know about relationships? About soulmates? “He’s too good for you.”

“Stay out of it, Yuri, it’s none of your business.” Victor didn’t like the way those words hit him so hard, not that he would let Yuri see the hurt he had inflicted. He knew he was too good for Yuri, he didn’t need a teenager rubbing it in. Yuri didn’t know anything about them.

“He’s my friend that makes it my business.” The words startled Victor, he could only stare at Yuri. The two of them…friends? He didn’t think Yuri had any friends, especially not among their rinkmates.

“Just because you are friends doesn’t mean you have any idea what’s going on.” Victor tried to keep his tone even, not wanting to fuel Yuri’s hatred of him even more.

“I know you two are soulmates.” Victor’s head whipped around, thankful that no one else was near enough to have heard him. “And you’re hiding it for whatever reason.”

“We aren’t hiding anything, Yuri, we simply don’t feel the need to tell everyone.” It wasn’t like he wanted to hide the fact that they were soulmates, he would tell everyone right now if it wouldn’t make Yuuri uncomfortable. “You shouldn’t talk so causally about other people’s personal lives.”

“You mean you don’t want to tell everyone.” Victor’s brow furrowed.

“No, I mean the two of us have decided not to make that public. What are you getting at, Yuri?” There had to be some reason that Yuri’s hatred of him had increased so exponentially aside from the fact that Yuuri didn’t come home last night. Or the fact that he had been spending a little less time with Yuri now that they had found each other.

“You don’t want everyone to know the two of you are soulmates.” Victor took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that Yuri was only a teenager and only had a fraction of the story.

“No.”

“You are –“

“Just stop.” Victor shook his head, trying to calm the anger that was rising in him at the accusation. “I’m not hiding from anything and you need to stay out of our business.” Victor walked away from him before Yuri could respond.

By the end of practice, he had finally calmed down from his earlier interaction with Yuri. He had spent the rest of practice avoiding him and had barely glared at him. Part of Victor hoped that was because he felt ashamed of what he had said but he doubted that’s what had happened. The teenager probably didn’t like the fact that he had lost an argument, one he shouldn’t have even started in the first place.

Yuuri approached him while Victor was removing his skates. “What did you say to Yuri?” The question caught him off guard. He looked around to make sure their rinkmates were far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to listen in on the conversation.

“He thought hiding the fact that we were soulmates was my idea and told me I should stay away from you.” Yuuri didn’t look nearly as surprised at Victor had expected. So Yuri had actually told them what their conversation was about, that was unexpected. “I told him I wasn’t hiding anything and that he should stay out of it.”

“I see, that would explain why he was fuming.” Yuuri sat down next to him.

“Victor, he’s not entirely wrong.” Victor froze, unsure where this was even coming from. He didn’t want to hide anything and he certainly didn’t think he should be staying away from Yuuri. Victor couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his soulmate now that he finally knew who he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone gets mad about waiting six months for another update, I already have more than half of the next one written. I also have steady internet access again so I have actual motivation to finish the chapter. It felt pointless to work on any fics when I didn't have any way to post them. Hopefully I'll get back on track with some of my other fics as well.   
> Thank you for reading. As always, comments and kudos fuel my writer's soul.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri finish their conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one week, who have I become?? I couldn't hold onto this chapter knowing it was already done.

“What…what do you mean?” Victor forced himself to resume removing his skates, to act like he wasn’t falling apart on the inside. He didn’t want to bring any more attention to them while they had this conversation.

“It was your idea to mess with everyone instead of telling them to the truth.” Victor’s head snapped up at the words. If Yuuri had told Yuri that…it would explain where he had gotten the idea that Victor wanted to hide their relationship from.

“That’s not what I meant.” He took deep breaths, trying not to panic. “I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable. I-I thought telling them that we were soulmates from the start would only bring more attention to things.”

“And pretending to be a couple doesn’t?” Yuuri had Victor there. It was a foolish suggestion from the start but it still seemed like it would bring less unwanted attention towards them than admitting that they were soulmates who had barely spoken to each other.

“I don’t care if everyone knows about us, Yuuri. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable with everyone knowing.” Victor hoped he would see where he was coming from but there was no telling now that things had gotten twisted up.

“You don’t care if people know about us?” Yuuri’s eyes narrowed at the words and Victor realized how they could be misunderstood.

“Yuuri, please. That’s not how I meant it. I would tell everyone here about us, I’d be more than happy to. Is that what you want?” Victor knew that people were starring. Even to them, it would be obvious that they were having some sort of argument. Victor could only guess how distraught his face looked right now, trying to make sense of the situation. Yuuri seemed determined to mishear everything that came out of his mouth.

“I don’t know.” Yuuri sighed, hanging his head. “It’s not that I don’t want anyone to know, I just don’t know how you tell someone you don’t even know that kind of personal information.”

“You may not know them that well now but you will get to know them. They are your rinkmates. You’re going to spend every day with them, that has to count for something.” Victor knew from experience that his rinkmates were important to him, even if he didn’t consider them friends all the time.

“Yuri is my friend and it was hard enough to tell him.” Finally, Yuuri turned to face Victor. “Please don’t tell Yuri to stay out of things. I know his way of going about it was wrong but he was genuinely concerned for me.”

“To me it just seems like he’s possessive.” Victor bit his lip. He hadn’t meant to say that, even if the words were true.

“How would you feel if the first actual friend you had made was suddenly not just yours anymore?” Yuuri smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Victor hadn’t thought about it in that way before. Yuri was usually alone at the rink. It’s one of the reasons that he had moved in with Yakov to transition to seniors this year.

“Well if I can’t tell him to stay out of things then he needs to be nicer in the future.” Though he knew he sounded petulant, he didn’t particularly care. Victor didn’t want any more ambushes from Yuri based on his misguided attempts to protect Yuuri.

“I have already talked to him. But now I’m trying to talk to you and you don’t seem like you’re really hearing what I’m saying.” Yuuri sighed. Victor knew that their communication skills needed work. He could only blame a small part of their misunderstandings on the language barrier as they both had a decent grasp on the English language.

“You want to tell people about us.” That would make things even more chaotic than they already were. If it’s what, Yuuri really wanted though, he would do it. He had wanted to figure out their relationship more without everyone having expectations for them but it seemed to be too late for that now.

“I’m not saying we proclaim it but if people ask, we should probably tell the truth.” Yuuri smiled, an actual one this time. “I told you I wasn’t all that good at lying.”

“Alright, we can do that.” Victor smiled. He couldn’t help it, he just wanted to make Yuuri happy even if it did make his life more complicated. All of the questions would be aimed at him now. Everyone would want to know if the fact that they were soulmates was the reason that Yuuri was here now. “I still want us to try to figure things out though.”

“Figure what out?” Victor ran his hands down his face.

“Us.” Yuuri’s eyes widened at the words, as if he hadn’t expected that was where Victor was going. “We are soulmates, Yuuri. That means something to me.”

“It means something to me too.” His words were soft.

“I want to spend more time with you, outside of the rink. I meant it when I said that I wanted to get to know you Aside from the fact that we are soulmates, I find you interesting.” Yuuri nodded. This wasn’t going to be easy for them, not with all of their rinkmates watching them stumble and figure out their relationship.

“Well, I already told you that I would come over tonight. I do need to talk to Yuri and make sure he knows not to try and scare you off again.” Victor didn’t know how the two of them had become friends but he was glad that they had each other. Hopefully having someone like Yuuri around would mellow Yuri out.

“We can have dinner and just talk.” Victor had forgotten about tonight in the haze of the day, he needed to pick something up for them to have for dinner before he went home. It would be nice to talk without all the prying eyes that were currently starring at them. Though at least they were staying a polite distance away to let them have this conversation.

“I’m ready to go whenever you are.” There went his plan of preparing things before he went home. It made more sense for Yuuri to just come home with him, though he would have to return to Yakov’s at some point.

“Do you want to stop by Yakov’s first?” Yuuri looked at him curiously before he realized that he hadn’t actually been home since the previous morning. He nodded quickly, a slight blush blooming on his cheeks. “If we stick together, they shouldn’t come after us too hard with the questions.”

“It just delays the interrogation until tomorrow.” Victor sighed, he wasn’t wrong there. At least it would give them one more day and a little more time to talk, to figure out what their relationship actually was before they had to start explaining it.

Victor stood, holding his hand out to Yuuri. He couldn’t help his smile when Yuuri interlaced their fingers. Their rinkmates continued to watch the pair, not even pretending they weren’t starring as they left the rink. He was sure there would be a flood of messages on his phone by the time they got back to his apartment. None of it would compare to all the questions he would have to answer tomorrow. He wished he could just tell one person and let the rumor mill handle the rest but he knew it wouldn’t be so easy.

All he wanted right now was to enjoy his night with Yuuri. They walked to his apartment to drop Victor’s bag off and get his car. The drive to Yakov’s was pleasant. Mostly they talked about skating in general, neither broaching the topic of programs for the season. Victor knew Yuuri had to be curious about the routine that he had inspired so late at night but he was happy not to have to put words to his feelings quite yet. He would prefer to wait until he could show Yuuri the completed routine and only hope that Yuuri would understand what he was trying to convey through his skating.

“You are an idiot.”

“I wish you would stop saying that to me.” This seemed to be the only way that his coach planned to greet him for the foreseeable future. As soon as they entered the house, Yuri immediately dragged Yuuri off.

“It’s the truth.” Yakov crossed as his arms as he starred Victor down. He really was getting judged from all angles for his relationship with Yuuri.

“No, it’s not.” Victor’s eyes were still on the spot where Yuuri disappeared from his sight. “We are still working things out.” Victor finally turned his attention to his coach.

“I would prefer you do that on your own time, not during mine.”

“Tell that to the rest of the skaters.” Victor would be more than happy to keep things away from the rink but their rinkmates made that difficult.

“You know how they are.” Yakov shrugged. “You should have thought about that before putting on your little show. Today for instance.”

“That was…unplanned.” Victor would have preferred their tense conversation at the rink had never happened, especially not with so many people watching them. “I will try to avoid it happening again.”

“Good. You skaters are enough drama without all that.” Victor had to laugh at that. Yakov was certainly true that they all had their dramatic tendencies, Victor being one of the worst.

“Fine! I don’t care!” The sound of Yuri yelling followed by a door slamming caught both of their attentions. Yakov sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. This was obviously not new behavior for the young skater.

Yuuri came back into sight a few moments later, looking more exhausted than he had when they had left the rink earlier. “Sorry about…that.” Yuuri gestured vaguely to the direction he had come from.

“He will calm down.” Yuuri raised his eyebrows at Yakov. “Eventually.”

“I’ll be back –”

“Why don’t you wait until you two have worked out things before you make me any promises?” Yakov walked down the hallway that Yuuri had just come from, likely to actually clam Yuri down from whatever tantrum he had just thrown. “Don’t be late for practice.”Yuuri sighed, his shoulders slumped. Victor knew that Yakov meant well but he had a feeling that had put a lot more pressure on Yuuri.

“Come on.” Victor held his hand out to Yuuri and was grateful when he took it. He wondered if he would ever get tired of the novelty of Yuuri’s hand in his, he hoped not. “We can make dinner and talk. Then I’ll bring you home.”

Yuuri looked up at him, surprise in his expression. “I thought you wanted…” A blush filled his face as he trailed off. “You wanted to come here first, I assumed to get clothes so I could, um…stay over again.”

“If you want.” Victor squeezed his hand gently. “I thought you might like to take a shower. If you want to stay over you can but I can also bring you back here.” Victor smiled at him as they exited Yakov’s house and was happy to see Yuuri return the expression.

Victor was relieved when the tension from Yuuri’s body seemed to melt away as they got into the car. Their night wasn’t ruined by Yuri’s meddling, he just hoped that they could get past all the things they needed to discuss. Victor desperately wanted things to work between them. He wasted so much time and so many opportunities to know his soulmate. Looking over at the smile on Yuuri’s face, there was very little that Victor wouldn’t do to keep him in his life now that he had finally found him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Victor still need to do more of this communication thing and figure out what it actually means to be soulmates.  
> I hope you aren't disappointed by how the conversation went. They aren't the best at talking about their feelings and thoughts regarding being soulmates. But there is still more to come!  
> Enjoy the rest of the holiday season and have a happy new year!!!


End file.
